Microsoft

This week we're seeing the next generation in Raspberry Pi technology. For those of you that've never heard of the Raspberry Pi, it's a barebones computer that's made to be exceedingly cheap whilst retaining functionality for do-it-yourself electronics makers. In other words - it's the brain for your next robot. This second major wave release is being put out for the same price as the most recent Raspberry Pi unit, but here you're getting a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU with 6x the performance of the previous best board.

It seems that Microsoft might be developing a habit of releasing good news to be followed by the nasty fine print. It happened with Windows 10 and seems to be happening now with its shiny Outlook app for iOS and Android. Though still in preview version, the app has been discovered to have some glaring security practices would be a security and privacy nightmare, especially for companies whose employees might take a liking to the app. And while there's still time to address these issue, it might not be a very good first step for Microsoft.

“We’re going to take Android away from Google” said Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster. They’re going to have help, too. A new report from The Wall Street Journal (to whom the above comment was made) notes Microsoft is making a $70 million investment in Cyanogen Inc. It’s an interesting angle, as Microsoft already makes quite a bit of money in licensing fees with regard to Android, and has their own operating system in Windows (no longer Windows Phone for mobile). The investment still leaves Microsoft with a minority stake.

That's right, Ian Malcolm fans, you're going to see everyone's favorite Chaos Theorist appear in LEGO form. In the new LEGO Jurassic World game, at least. This new game is set to be released alongside a new Avengers LEGO game this year, starting in June with the Xbox One. You'll also see this game released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC soon after. You'll also see versions released for PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3Ds, and Windows PC - through Steam, most likely.

Amazon Web Services have revealed their newest plan for working with email and calendaring in the business world: Amazon WorkMail. If it wasn't clear from the name, Amazon WorkMail is made for enterprise users, aiming at the workplace with Microsoft Active Directory compatibility. This isn't an app - to be clear - it's a "managed business email and calendaring service" made to work WITH apps like Microsoft Outlook or native iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, and Windows Phone applications. Amazon WorkMail is being pushed with a 30-day trial run for up to 25 users to get businesses in as soon as possible.

Perhaps Microsoft was too quick to sing the Windows 10 unification song, and perhaps we were to quick to buy the spiel. After practically saying that Windows 10 is for everyone, Redmond is now revealing the fine print, slowly and in bits and pieces. After vaguely alluding to the Windows RT's demise, Microsoft is more clearly and more explicitly revealing one subtle yet important caveat to the Windows 10 promise. Any Window 10 device smaller than 8 inches, whether phone or tablet, will not be getting the desktop mode.

One of the highlights of Windows 10 paraded last week was the focus on Photos, not only on desktops and tablets but also on phones as well. Part of that "unified experience" is in the consistency of the apps. The other part of that is in the cloud. Microsoft's cloud, that is. The latter is now falling into place with an update to Microsoft's OneDrive storage solution, across all supported platforms, that offers a better way to experience your photos while you wait for Windows 10.

Microsoft has had its Office apps available for iOS users for a while now and the applications have proven to be very popular. Android users were left out in the cold until the preview started a few months ago. Microsoft has now announced that Office is available for Android tablets. The Android apps are similar in design to Office for Windows 10 and the suite for Android includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Microsoft has released their Q2 2015 earning report, which show the company had $26.5 billion in revenue with $5.8 billion in net income. That’s an 8% uptick in revenue over last year, but an even greater loss in income (10%). Part of that has to do with their purchase of Nokia, for which Microsoft is claiming $243 million in “integration ans restructuring expenses”. In the quarter, they sold a record amount of Lumia phones, too, but Xbox sales are down versus last year.

Detailing the inner bits of Microsoft HoloLens isn't going to be especially easy in the next few weeks. Not unless Microsoft makes a big showing during GDC 2015. But what we've found out since we first (officially) heard about Windows Holographic from Microsoft this week is that the final product may be closer than we originally suspected. While NASA's JPL Labs suggest they'll be using HoloLens by July of this year, we'd suspected there was no way they'd be bringing a consumer model to the public any time soon.